A Beautiful Lie
by Artemisdesari
Summary: Exploring why Castiel is on the path he is, why he is allied himself with the one that he has. Spoilers for 6x19 Mommy Dearest. One Shot.


_I promised myself I wouldn't start jumping on the tag wagon again. Having watched Mommy Dearest for a second time last night, however, I concluded that I needed to look at why Castiel has fallen so far from the angel we all love so dearly. So I'm exploring and will probably wind up a mile off the actual reasons that Cas is doing what he is. But some things that have been said over the season, and most notably one quote from Castiel himself, have struck me as odd and then as a possible explanation. So here I am trying to find a reason for Castiel's behaviour._

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I love Castiel too much to make him betray Dean like this. I love Dean too much to use his best friend (read here lover) to destroy any ability to trust without question that he might have. Cas has died for Dean on more than one occasion, I honestly can't believe that he would lie to him like this._

A Beautiful Lie_._

Castiel is desperate. He has few allies, few friends, no one that he can really trust. Every day Raphael gets closer to winning this war, every day Raphael comes closer to restarting the Apocalypse unchallenged. It is something that Castiel cannot allow to happen.

It is something that he might be powerless to stop.

Like Castiel, all angels really, Raphael draws his power from the multitude of souls that populate Heaven. Unlike Castiel, Raphael has the ability to draw that energy from far greater numbers of them. The resurrected angel has more power than before his fall, has more access to the energy of souls than he ever has done in his existence, but even this is not enough. Even this increase in his ability does not make him strong enough to face off against the last remaining archangel. He needs more. He needs something that Raphael will be unable to use by virtue of not knowing about it.

Purgatory would seem to be the perfect starting point. Already the children of the Mother of All are beginning to behave strangely, already there is the muttering of a larger presence and a greater power on the Earth. It is something that he has to investigate, something that he needs the answer to. If She can be released, or if he can at least find Her to meet with Her, perhaps She can be persuaded to loan him some of Her power. Perhaps She will allow him to use the strength She gleans from the dark souls of Her dead children to defeat Raphael once and for all.

Besides, Raphael is as much a threat to Her children as he is to humanity.

First, though, he needs to find a way _into_ Purgatory that does not involve dying himself. He needs the location and it is not something that he can do on his own because Raphael will notice, Raphael will step in and _stop_ him and Castiel will be powerless to prevent it.

The angel hates feeling weak, powerless, he hates to be so outmatched and viewed as nothing more than the little angel that tries. He needs help, however, and though he hates to admit it he knows that it has to be done. After some thought he even knows who it is that he can turn to for this aid. He knows who stands to gain and lose as much as he does if Raphael wins.

_Crowley_.

The demon who would be absolute king of Hell were he not still challenged by a small faction. The demon who once allied himself with them against Lucifer and could gain from the souls in purgatory as much as Castiel could. The meeting, of course, is kept secret from even the most trusted of his lieutenants. Were they to know what he is planning to do Castiel knows that they would try to stop him. An alliance with a _demon_ of all beings is an abominable idea and he finds as little joy in the thought as he knows his allies will. It has to be done, however.

Castiel agrees to provide the hunters Crowley will need, resurrecting from Heaven the ones that will be the most easily manipulated and with the greatest ability. Crowley will provide the leverage and gather the information together. Once Castiel has used the souls in purgatory to give him enough power to defeat Raphael he will allow Crowley access to that power as unlimited as his own. They will both gain from it.

Castiel had not counted on Sam Winchester, even soulless, to be so very manipulative of his brother. He had not considered the possibility of Dean being dragged back into the fight. The elder Winchester trusts him completely and it hurts the angel to have to lie to him. It hurts to have to deceive him.

Castiel knows that when Dean finds out the hunter will never forgive him this. He knows that the lie will never be forgotten, knows that he will have lost Dean's trust and good faith. If he were not so desperate he would stop everything now, tear out his grace and fall so that he might spend the last years of humanity's free existence at Dean's side. The war has to be won, however, and he has to consider more than just Dean. True he will sacrifice hour after hour, give up on many plans, to keep the Winchesters and Bobby safe. He will come time and again when they call and he will manipulate them as carefully as he has his angelic allies so that they will be safe.

In the end, however, he knows that the lies will be discovered.

The brothers are observant when they want to be and not even Dean's absolute faith in Castiel will leave the older brother ignorant forever. Bobby is also observant, does not _trust_ Castiel even after everything, and watches everything that happens around him with a cynical eye. When the older hunter speaks the brothers listen and Castiel knows that he is the most likely to figure it all out. The angel knows he should stay away, knows that he should stop answering the calls himself and order one of his lieutenants to acquiesce to every one of the Winchesters requests. These are his friends and he will not abandon them and so he keeps on coming when they call.

He will _lie_, however, because he is desperate and they cannot help him.

_Artemis_


End file.
